In many fields nowadays, there are circumstances in which rapid and quiet entry to closed and locked premises is required. Some of the authorities who need or might need to make such entry are police, customs and excise personnel, bailiffs, firemen and (in non-civilian circumstances) personnel in the armed forces.
In the field of drug-taking and drug-dealing, it has been common (at least in the United Kingdom) for personnel from the respective agency to approach the premises as quietly as possible and then to smash the door down if it proved to be securely locked in order to prevent entry. By the time the door was down, the drugs (which the personnel had hoped to seize and to use as evidence of illegal use and/or dealing) could well have been washed away down a water closet or down a sink whose taps were left running. Thus, a combination of the noise created in smashing down the door and the time taken to do it gives criminals valuable time within which to get rid of some or all of incriminating evidence.